'Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite' by Albert Bierstadt

I received the following products in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. 

2016 had a less-than-ideal start for me, hence the reason that I haven't posted an update since the end of January. On the night of my previous post, my father died unexpectedly. With all the hardships that I've experienced in my life, I have never known a pain like this. Little by little, I'm picking up the pieces. 

When FramedArt.com asked me to review a piece framed traditional decor, I welcomed the opportunity. I moved into a new home toward the end of 2015 and need some pieces to liven up the walls, which mostly stand bear.

This is what I chose: 

Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite in my dining room

  

A closer look at the painting that I received. Do you see the deer?

The painting is Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt, one of the best North American landscape painters. Bierstadt is known for his glorious, luminous landscapes of the American West. He participated in journeys related to the American Westward Expansion the was one of the first to capture iconic western landscapes. His paintings of Yosemite in the early 1870s helped convince Congress to pass the Yellowstone Park Bill in 1872, making it the first national park in the world. Congress even purchased one of Bierstadt's paintings. Unlike Van Gogh, Bierstadt enjoyed the popularity of his works during his lifetime. 

Here are some other paintings by Bierstadt:

Rocky Mountain Landscape; Source: Wikipedia

Among the Sierra Nevada, California; Source: Wikipedia

The painting that I selected has "Museum Quality Glass." This means the glass has a protective coating that blocks up to 99 percent of ultraviolet (UV) rays, which would otherwise fade the print with time. Choosing this type of glass adds to the framed art's expense, but it ensures that it will look great for a longer period. The frame and mat give the print a touch of elegance that complement the hand-finished details in my dining room. All in all, I'm happy with the product that I received.

I received the products mentioned in exchange for an unbiased review.

Vincent van Gogh's 'Starry Night Over the Rhone'

I received the product mentioned in exchange for an honest review on my blog. The opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. 

Image: Wikimedia

Vincent van Gogh is one of my favorite artists. I think I favor him because he kept doing what he loves despite others telling him that his work was a joke. My favorite painting of his is Almond Blossom. However, I also like his paintings of the night sky, particularly La nuit étoilée (The Starry Night, or Starry Night Over the Rhône). 

When I visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to see many of the artist’s paintings, but Starry Night Over the Rhône is at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France. The interesting thing about this work is that Van Gogh shared his vision of the painting in a letter to friend Eugène Boch. He also described the details of the painting in a letter to his brother Theo. The Musée d'Orsay states that Van Gogh was enthralled with the night sky and wrote about the subject often in letters to friends and family members. 

When I see the stars bursting in Van Gogh’s night sky, it makes me think of looking at the stars on a clear night without my glasses. When I remove my glasses, the clear dots in the sky grow twinkling arms that illuminate the space surrounding each ball of gas with a halo-like effect. I wonder if Van Gogh needed or wore glasses.

Another interesting feature of Starry Night Over the Rhône is the gas lights along the street. Van Gogh worked on the painting while sitting under a gas light, which became the standard in artificial illumination during the artist’s lifetime. The reflections of light in the painting’s water aren’t of the bright stars, but of the lamps that lined the streets.

Starry Night Over the Rhône in My Home

The print that I received

Earlier this year, FramedArt.com got in touch with me to do a review of one of its products using a $75 credit. It offers framed fine art by era, so I immediately looked at the site’s selection of Van Gogh paintings. My husband and I choose Starry Night Over the Rhône. As you see in the link, I chose a black frame with an olive green mat that matches the shades of green in the painting’s water. 

The print itself was about $15 dollars. The bulk of the cost is in the frame and mat. For this piece, I chose the standard glass, a basic frame and a basic mat. It took a few weeks to receive the finished product after I ordered it, but I’m happy with the result.  

What is your favorite Van Gogh painting?


I received the products mentioned in exchange for an unbiased review on my blog.